


Strawberry

by semele



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-16 00:19:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1324723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/semele/pseuds/semele
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeremy hates strawberries. It's a fact of life, something Elena knows without having to think about it. Jeremy, strawberries, no go. Spoilers to 4x01</p><p>Warnings: grief, mentions of character death</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strawberry

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by vergoldung: _I don't really blame you for being dead but you can't have your sweater back_

Jeremy hates strawberries. It's a fact of life, something Elena knows without having to think about it. Jeremy, strawberries, no go. 

Alaric, of course, had no idea.

Elena could tell he was super proud of himself when he pulled a box of strawberries out of his grocery bag. He was wearing his best “I rock at adulthood, I bring healthy food” grin that fell immediately after he saw Jeremy's face, the offending fruit left between them on the counter, for Elena to grab. She laughed herself silly as she munched on it.

“Did Isobel like strawberries?” she almost asked, but the name of her birth mother got stuck in her throat, and just like that, the moment was gone.

Two days later Alaric got run over by a hybrid, and nobody remembered strawberries until it was way too late.

***

Elena has a list of questions unasked, what was Isobel's favorite class in college and how did she like her coffee? 

(Why did she leave me without a word, just like you did?)

(By which I mean: I'm sorry I killed you.)

Her house becomes a minefield again, filled with things she doesn't want to look at: a pile of essays, a pair of slippers, a half-read book, and a stray rotten strawberry in a fridge no one had time to clean in three weeks. She knows this part: it's called “healing”, and it means that she's supposed to wash all the things, give away old clothes, and finish painting that freaking bedroom. Easy.

She's a vampire now, which means cleaning takes so much less time than it's supposed to take, how rude, stains and marks disappearing before she has a chance to say goodbye properly. Slippers land in the trash together with that rotten strawberry, because hoarding is unhealthy, and you shouldn't try to make objects stand for people.

(When Elena is sure that Jeremy isn't looking, she throws that fucking half-read book into the fireplace, and sets it on fire.)


End file.
